Correspondence from the field in Gettysburg during the Civil War may be valuable. But what’s inside the envelopes might be worth much more.

Civil War mail might mean a red-letter day

Q: Several generations back my family emigrated from Baden, Germany. Some members went to the U.S. and some came to Canada, but they kept in touch. These letters were sent from the field in Gettysburg. They're postmarked Washington so I always thought that they were probably delivered there first then distributed to the addressees. The letters are written in German and are very fragile. The envelopes are eight by 13 centimetres

Melanie, Whitby

A: There's value and interest in these envelopes, but what's inside them may end up being far more valuable, depending on the content. Envelopes with printed scenes like this were available during the American Civil War (1861-1865) but relatively few survived the ravages of humidity, insect damage and time itself. In addition, actual letters from the front have always been scarce since few men had formal education and were, therefore, unable to read or write. If these letters contain any descriptive historical details of the war – or lead-up to the battle at Gettysburg – they'll be worth some serious money. I'd suggest you take the letters to a good museum, where staff is used to handling fragile items of this nature, and have them translated and analyzed. Then you can have them properly appraised. As for the envelopes themselves, they are of interest with their dated postmarks and illustrations. I think they're worth between $45 and $200 apiece.

Q: This large, elaborate Simpson, Hall, Miller & Co. tankard has been in our family for decades. I inherited it from my father, who inherited it from his father. It's almost 35 centimetres tall. The porcelain body is painted with four different scenes of daisies, one of which includes a butterfly. The elaborate spout depicts the open mouth of a fish, and the handle is an entire fish mixed with large flowers and leaves.

Anne Marie, Brampton

A: This is an ice water pitcher and one of the nicest I've ever seen. It's a combination of silver plate and painted milk glass (rather than porcelain). Simpson, Hall, Miller & Co., of Wallingford, Conn. was one of the top 20 silver plate manufacturers in the 1880s and '90s, which is when this was made. Ice water pitchers were sometimes entirely silver plate with the glass or porcelain liners completely hidden. Some came with a dispensing stand. What's nice about your pitcher is the fact that the liner is both visible and highly decorated. Originally, this would have cost between $15 and $20, which was a king's ransom in the 1880s. Today it's worth about $750.

Q: I bought this piece of glass on eBay thinking it might be a leech jar. It's 27 centimetres tall and 14 centimetres wide.I paid $100 for it.

Mark, Cambridge

A: There's nothing like an old bloodletting collectible to liven up a dinner conversation – and fatten the wallet. Except I'm sorry to report that what you have here is an old vase, rather than an old leech jar. I was uncertain about this at first, which is why I consulted Peter Kaellgren, Curator of Decorative Arts in the Department of World Cultures, at Toronto's Royal Ontario Museum. He confirmed it's a vase made in the historical revival style, some time between 1870 and 1930. He remarked that the shape and size of the foot are rather impractical and pointed out that Victorians and Edwardians often had a different sense of proportion and were known for this.

He also said that glass in the historical revival style, which is meant to look 16th or 17th century, like the glass in paintings, was usually bought by wealthier and better educated people. Yes, I know, bloodletting sounds much more interesting, but what can you do? As you probably know, leeches were used for bloodletting as early as the 5th century B.C. An original leech jar could be worth thousands of dollars. Your vase is worth about $250 – still more than you paid for it, if that's any consolation.

To submit an item to his column, go to the `Contact John' page at www.john sewellantiques.ca. Please measure your piece, say when and how you got it, what you paid and list any identifying marks. A high-resolution JPEG photo must also be included. (Only email submissions accepted.) Appraisal values are estimates only.